Collaboration in videoconferencing is currently based around synchronous methods. When the videoconference is taking place attendees make use of such aspects as live chat, shared whiteboard and document sharing. These features are useful while the conference is taking place but lose value when the conference is finished as they require people to be available at the same time.
Combining the recorded videoconference with asynchronous collaboration methods allows both videoconference attendees and others who could not take part in the videoconference to revisit it in their own time and review the video (or audio) and take part in discussions about that content asynchronously. However simply providing a link to the video and then a link to the discussions is very limited and offers very little added value. The concept of linking asynchronous collaboration with synchronous media (linear media) provides a deep level of integration between the two by bringing them together and presenting them as a single technology rather than a combination of the two.
Current methods for linking linear media and asynchronous technologies (e.g. asynchronous collaboration) are limited in the scope and effectiveness of their linking.
In an asynchronous collaborative environment such as an online discussion forum a user is permitted to post a message containing a link (e.g. URL) to some form of linear media such as a streaming video. This is a one way link and only serves the purpose of directing the reader to the streamed media so that they may view it. Discussion can take place around this streamed video but only in such a manner that the message postings refer to the streamed video by reference through their text. Reference to a specific point within the streamed video must be explained in the message posting text (e.g. “in the following video (link provided) at around 16 minutes”) and then the viewer is required to seek to that point searching for the exact location. The video may only be viewed by clicking on the link within the message to launch it, the message itself holds no further reference to the streamed video.
An advancement on the standard URL link is the “bookmark”. In this case the user can not only create a link to a form of linear media such as a streaming video but they are able to create this link to a point in time within the streaming video. This makes the link more specific, allowing the user to identify a specific point in time within the streaming video. By clicking on the bookmark the viewer is taken to the specific point that the message poster was referring to rather than them having to launch the video and then seek to the location. However this link is also one way and the message holds no further information about the streaming video.
While the two previous examples show that in a simple sense it is already possible to link the linear media and asynchronous technologies, they are limited in their use given the one-way nature of their link.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for correlating asynchronous content with linear media which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art, or to at least provide a useful alternative.